March is Endometriosis Awareness Month, and I’m going to present a petition entitled “Improve Endometriosis Care and Education.”

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas one in 10 women, trans and non-binary people who menstruate suffer from endometriosis;

“Whereas the diagnosis of endometriosis can take more than five years;

“Whereas the average wait time to see an endometriosis specialist in Ontario is” anywhere from “seven to” 11 “years;

“Whereas Canada has a shortage of health care providers and specialists trained in endometriosis, forcing many to go untreated or spend thousands of dollars to receive surgeries out of the country;

“Whereas there is societal stigma and discrimination surrounding menstruation and the reproductive health of women, trans and non-binary peoples;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly as follows:

“To make significant investment in Ontario’s health care system to ensure patients with endometriosis have access to publicly funded care in Ontario in a timely manner;

“To increase funding in endometriosis research;

“To improve medical program requirements on knowledge of endometriosis;

“To train more endometriosis specialists.”

I could not sign this with more pride and in more support. I want to thank the members of Toronto–St. Paul’s, especially folks from midtown and also folks from endometriosis events, for all of their leadership and advocacy on this. Thank you, guys. I love you, guys. I’m standing with you. Thank you.

This petition is titled “Encouraging Passage of Bill 121, the Improving Dementia Care in Ontario Act, 2023.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Alzheimer’s disease affects over 250,000 people in the province of Ontario;

“Whereas it is estimated that approximately 400,000 individuals will be diagnosed with dementia by 2030;

“Whereas by the year 2050, more than 1.7 million Canadians are expected to be living with dementia, with an average of 685 individuals diagnosed each day;

“Whereas Alzheimer’s disease is not a normal part of aging and is irreversible;

“Whereas 69% of LTC residents are living with dementia;

“Whereas 45% of care partners providing care to people living with dementia exhibit symptoms of distress. This is almost twice the rate compared to care partners of older adults with health conditions other than dementia, which is only 26%;

“Whereas caregivers of those living with dementia decrease their participation in the economy;

“Whereas upstream investments in dementia, prevention, and care are needed to reduce the strain on capacity and resources;

“Whereas strategies to mitigate stigma and combat ageism should be at the heart of the strategy.

I’m going to sign this petition and give it to page Mesapé.

This is a petition to raise social assistance rates, and I would like to thank Waheed Malik from Ancaster, Ontario, for signing this petition. Ancaster is actually my birth town, where I lived the first eight years of my life.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,308 for” people on “ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas small increases to ODSP have still left these citizens below the poverty line. Both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I fully support this petition. I will put my signature to it and hand it to Sarah. I would also like to thank Dr. Sally Palmer for gathering so many signatures.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario is expecting to continue to see rapid population growth and investments, the province needs additional reliable, affordable, and clean energy that businesses can rely on. To meet growing electricity demand this decade, Ontario is expanding generation capacity, conducting Canada’s largest clean energy storage procurement, and expanding energy efficiency programs; and

“Whereas new electricity transmission infrastructure is needed to meet growing electricity demand in the province. Last year, Ontario acted to ensure the efficient and timely development of five new electricity transmission infrastructure projects in southwestern Ontario, with additional new projects proposed in the coming years including three new transmission lines in northeastern Ontario to power forecast electricity growth, including the conversion from coal to electric arc furnaces at Algoma Steel as well as from growth in the mining sector; and one new transmission line to power growth in the Ottawa region and across eastern Ontario; and

“Whereas Ontario has launched the largest clean energy storage procurement in Canada’s history. The procurement, which is contracting 2,500 megawatts of clean energy storage, will increase the efficiency of Ontario’s clean electricity grid; and

“Whereas energy storage will support the operation of Ontario’s clean electricity grid by drawing and storing electricity off-peak when power demand is low and generation typically comes from non-emitting sources as well as returning the power to the system at times of higher electricity demand; and

“Whereas with the increasing demand for energy, the province is leveraging the Ontario nuclear sector’s experience and expertise in this safe, reliable, and clean energy source to develop the” new generation and the “next generation of nuclear power; and

“Whereas expanding Ontario’s SMR program enhances Ontario’s position as a global leader in new nuclear technologies, creating new export opportunities that will drive economic growth;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To urge all members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario continue to create reliable, affordable clean energy while meeting the demands of a growing population.”

I fully support this petition and I will send it through Sarah.

I have 9,418 signatures here, collected from across Ontario, on a petition that reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas we, the people of Ontario, have lost faith and confidence in the Ontario school system;

“Whereas the sexualization of our children, indoctrination and the material being taught with regard to this is unacceptable;

“Whereas the bullying of children is rampant in our schools with little or no consequences for the child who is the bully, the teacher who watched it happen or the school board;

“Whereas we are tired of labour disruptions and want the stability of in-person learning, in an environment that we as their parents wish for them;

“Whereas these are not the government of Ontario’s children, they are ours and we refuse to let you raise them as you wish;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To return our educational tax dollars in part or in full so that we as parents can redirect these dollars to the school or learning facility of our choice.”

I will affix my signature to the bottom of the petition and send it to the table with page Mesapé.

This petition is labeled as “To Raise Social Assistance Rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: $733 for individuals on OW and $1,308 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas small increases to ODSP have still left these citizens” well “below the poverty line. Both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates are struggling to survive at this time of alarming inflation;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I cannot think of a better petition to affix my name to, and I will send it down to the table with page Isaac.

This petition is entitled “Petition to Improve Air Quality for Our Children.” I want to thank our education critic for developing this.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas good air quality reduces the spread of infectious diseases, lowers the rate of chronic health conditions like asthma and allergies, improves test scores in reading and math, reduces absences and improves worker morale;

“Whereas there is currently no requirement for publicly funded schools and licensed child care centres to monitor air quality in Ontario, which would identify classrooms and other learning spaces where air quality is poor;

“Whereas other jurisdictions, including Quebec, require schools to measure and publicly report on air quality;

“Whereas children, teachers, education workers, child care workers, and administrators in Ontario also deserve to work and learn in a space with clean air;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to require the Ministry of Education to begin to take action to improve air quality for our children by supporting and adopting the Improving Air Quality for Our Children Act, 2023.”

It’s my pleasure to affix my signature, Madam Speaker, and give it to page Anushga.

Resuming debate, the government side. I recognize the member for Burlington.

I’m pleased to build on Minister Dunlop’s remarks about the proposed legislative changes under the Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, 2024; changes that will help our colleges and universities become beacons of mental health and wellness, and create the best conditions for students to learn and thrive. That’s why I’m proud to show my support for the new Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act.

As Minister Dunlop explained, the first initiative in this legislation is a clear sign of our government’s commitment to post-secondary students. If passed, this legislation will require all publicly assisted colleges and universities to create and follow through on policies for student mental health. These policies will clearly outline all the mental health and wellness programs, supports and services available to students at their post-secondary institution.

To stay accountable to our students, we would require colleges and universities to publish these policies on their websites and report to their boards every year, making sure that all mental health programs, supports and services are implemented effectively, and truly improve the mental health and well-being of students. To stay current with the best mental health guidance and available supports, these policies would be reviewed at least once every five years.

To turn these mental health policies into reality, our government is investing $23 million to help institutions enhance their mental health supports, including $12.5 million in 2024-25 for Get A-Head, an online platform that enhances post-secondary students’ access to virtual mental health service, all while expediting the graduation of post-secondary students in mental health fields, as well as an $8-million investment over three years, starting in 2024-25, for the post-secondary mental health action plan.

For many years, I’ve been a committed mentor and coach to high school, college and university students, and have had the privilege of working first-hand with diverse learners. I can tell you that with each year students face more complex mental health challenges. In fact, mental health supports can be the single difference between a student who succeeds, getting the most out of their educational experience, and one who, unfortunately, does not. That’s why we need to give our students the best chance we can. We can do that by working in partnership with post-secondary institutions to make sure every campus has mental health supports for their students and that every single student can easily access these supports when they need them.

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to visit many colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes, and what struck me was just how widespread and complex student mental health issues are. As I met with students, faculty and administrators, common threads emerged. I came to understand that students don’t know what mental health services and supports are available at their institution, and they don’t know how to access them. Students also told me that it’s complicated to navigate the maze of mental health services and that they don’t know how to access the supports that are available to them.

Our post-secondary sector has made student mental health a priority and is committed to providing mental health services and supports to students, many of whom are living on their own for the very first time. We know mental health is essential to student success and we also know that young people aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience mental illness and/or substance use disorders than any other age group. That’s why it’s time to eliminate barriers to mental health supports on campus, because when we invest in mental health, we invest in the future—a future where every student can thrive and learn and contribute.

I’m proud to say that the legislative actions we are introducing through the Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, 2024, build on the significant steps we have taken to support the mental health of post-secondary students. In fact, in 2023-24 we are investing more than $32 million in mental health supports. This includes funding provided directly to post-secondary institutions through multiple grants. For example, the Mental Health Services Grant helps colleges and universities develop and expand mental health services on campus, such as specialized supports for at-risk groups, peer-to-peer supports, as well as mindfulness and resiliency-building programs.

There is also the Mental Health Worker Grant, which helps post-secondary institutions hire mental health professionals like counsellors, social workers, nurses, care coordinators—all to help the mental health needs of students. In 2022-23, more than 160 positions were filled with the help of this grant, which resulted in shorter wait times for students and less pressure on campus-based services.

Supporting ongoing initiatives that help provide direct one-on-one support for students also continues to be a high priority for our government—initiatives like the Good2Talk mental health helpline for post-secondary students. In 2023-24, our government is investing $5 million in this initiative so the organization can expand its services to continue to provide free, bilingual and confidential services to students. Good2Talk provides confidential services for post-secondary students in Ontario 24/7, 365 days a year, by phone, text and live chat. When students are feeling anxious, misunderstood or overwhelmed, just having someone to talk about it, someone who is truly there to listen, can make all the difference in the world.

To ensure all students in the province have access to mental health services, our government also invested more than $12 million in 2023-24 in another important resource: the Get A-Head portal. Students seeking care can access the portal to match with a counselling student in training and their supervisor, based on an area of support, gender, age and ethnicity. This tool not only provides critical and timely mental health services to post-secondary students at low to no cost, but it also gives students in mental health fields of study the opportunity to gain experience delivering supports. I’m pleased to report that in 2022-23, the Get A-Head platform served over 27,000 post-secondary students. And according to a survey carried out by those overseeing the online tool, more than 80% of the students who responded reported improvements in their mental health and well-being, and about 70% of the graduate student trainees surveyed believe the platform enabled them to deliver effective care. What a winning combination. That’s why I’m pleased that our most recent investment in this platform will expand access across all publicly assisted colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes in Ontario.

In 2023-24, our government also provided $750,000 for another important initiative, the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health. This is a partnership between Colleges Ontario, the Council of Ontario Universities, the College Student Alliance, and the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance. With this additional funding, the centre will continue to promote the exchange of knowledge in the student mental health sector, foster collaboration and research, and facilitate access to expertise to meet the mental health needs of all students.

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities is also a partner in this government’s multi-year mental health and addictions strategy that is led by the Ministry of Health. The strategy, Roadmap to Wellness: A Plan to Build Ontario’s Mental Health and Addictions System, seeks to address key challenges in the system, including long wait times, barriers to access and uneven quality of service. Our government has committed $3.8 billion over 10 years in this strategy. We have fulfilled this commitment by flowing $525 million in new annualized funding into the system since 2019-20. These investments are helping to deliver high-quality care and filling important gaps in the care continuum.

Through these efforts, we want post-secondary students to know they are not alone and that help and resources are always available. The legislative amendments proposed today would further build on our government’s efforts to support the well-being of students, requiring all public colleges and universities to have blueprints for their mental health supports and services that will help students in Ontario have access to the right resources when they need them the most.

In closing, I’ll say this: I feel optimistic about the historic changes being proposed as part of the Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act, 2024. I strongly believe that the new legislative amendments and investments for mental health that Minister Dunlop and I outlined, combined with other important amendments introduced to address incidents of anti-hate and increased transparency of student fees, will go a long way to improving the overall experience of Ontario’s post-secondary students. As such, I appreciate your support as we move forward.

It’s now time for questions.

Through you, Madam Speaker: Considering the blue-ribbon panel recommendation for an urgent $2.5 billion investment over three years to sustain our post-secondary institutions and the current plan to provide less than half of this amount, that’s starving the sector until it implodes—well, it’s imploded. This is a crisis created and not found.

Can the government explain how it plans to address the remaining financial gap to prevent the undermining of quality and accessibility of higher education in Ontario?

I certainly thank the member for her comments on this bill and her direct involvement in it. I really like the variety of things that we’re doing here to support post-secondary institutions with the sustainability fund, and also the efficiencies and operations we’ll be working with them on, and the tuition freeze, of course.

But I’m curious, member: You have had direct experience on the mental health front—and just your reflections on how this bill will help that community in our post-secondary institutions. I would appreciate your additional thoughts on that.

Thank you to the member opposite for that question. Last week’s announcement of $1.3 billion represents the single largest investment into Ontario’s post-secondary system in over a decade. Under the Liberals, colleges and universities had ballooning costs, with students having to pay for the increases.

Unlike the Liberals, propped up by the NDP, we are not going to fund colleges and universities on the backs of the students. Ontario is in the midst of an affordability crisis and asking students to pay more is irresponsible. While inflation is rising and students are needing to focus on paying for heating, eating, housing and other essentials, we will not be asking them to pay more for their education.

The disparity we see sometimes does not necessarily come—so institutions and different supports and different services vary from colleges and universities, and really, the spirit and intent of this legislation is to make sure that colleges and universities have a policy in place and that students understand how to access the supports and services that are available to them.

My question is for the member from Burlington. Highly educated contract lecturers make up 50% of those teaching at our colleges and universities. The pay is abysmal. There are few, if any, benefits, and contract lecturers have to reapply every year for yet another short-term contract. It is ironic that so many of those nurturing the learning and success of upcoming generations are low-wage, precarious workers.

Is there anything in the government’s plans to address the inequity and starving of people who are doing so much of the teaching?

As the member opposite will know, Bill 166 addresses student well-being, and it’s talking about enhancing mental health services and supports, fee transparency and ensuring that campuses are safe and inclusive learning environments. Ontario is putting students first with a continued focus on efficiency, accountability and sustainability in our world-class education system.

Further questions?

Further debate?

The number of hate crimes in the province has skyrocketed in recent months. Anyone who reads the newspaper has seen articles describing the hate and alienation many students experience because of their religion, ethnicity and nationality. What is the government doing to ensure that students can learn in an environment that is safe, respectful and inclusive?

Thanks for the commentary on this piece of legislation. Our critic this morning did a full hour on and really untangled this particular piece of legislation.

I come from a riding where there’s the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier and Conestoga. The issues of mental health on these campuses have been compounded by poverty, by a lack of housing, by a lack of resources. I’m thinking of when the Liberals once mandated and legislated student well-being in the education system, but the funding never flowed. The resources were not there.

What can the member say about legislating a responsibility on these post-secondary institutions? Your own blue-ribbon review indicated that there’s core fundamental underfunding on operational funding. So how are these institutions going to meet this moment when you are intentionally underfunding them and setting them up to fail, and by doing so, I think, from a moral perspective, hurting the students in the post-secondary institutions across this great province?

Before I start, I want to acknowledge the member for Burlington. I had an opportunity to meet her in Mississauga when we are at Sheridan College. It was really good to have you there. Thank you for the passion and the compassion that you have.

Madam Speaker, as you know, my daughter just recently has gone to the University of Windsor. She’s doing nursing, first year. My goodness, hats off to these young students. University can be difficult and challenging. In fact, many of my constituents and members have talked about it, that navigating the university and college mental health program often requires a degree of its own.

The question to you is, you’ve brought this bill. What will this bill do to help those youth?